As if expecting a personal insult, Brogan waited.
“… could father two such adorable kids.”
Brogan’s breath left him in an audible exhale.
Pixie wanted to throw herself against Cort and squeeze him tight. “They are adorable, aren’t they?”
“You’re not upset?” Disbelief kept Brogan’s brows together. “After everything I just said?”
Cort squeezed Marlow’s shoulder. “Losses are devastating. Expanding this family won’t be a hardship.”
Marlow beamed at him. “I agree.”
Taking a firm step forward, Brogan regained their attention. “Pixie misunderstood at first, so I want to make myself perfectly clear. I’m not handing off responsibility. Shayna is mine, and that won’t change. Ever. I won’t keep imposing on you, either.”
“You have a lease,” Cort reminded him. “A rental agreement.”
“I meant …” Brogan’s gaze shifted to Pixie, then away. “I’m not relocating here. You won’t have to contend with me—or Ruth—indefinitely. My goal was just to connect, for Shayna’s sake, because it was important to Connie.”
“And important to you,” Pixie insisted.
He frowned, then gave a reluctant nod. “Yes. It matters to me, too.”
Marlow stood as if in challenge. “How can she have family if you’re not around?”
“I had hoped to make a connection. To … I don’t know. Include Pixie and Andy in birthday parties and stuff.” He looked off in the distance as he admitted, “I wanted her to have backup, people she could turn to, so she’d never feel alone the way Connie did.”
The way he had.Pixie couldn’t stop herself from leaning into him again. “It’s a wonderful gesture, and I’m glad to count her as family. After all, she’s Andy’s sister. We won’t ever forget that.”
CHAPTER10
When Cort’s phone buzzed, everyone waited expectantly.
He spoke only a few words, thanking Herman and telling him to continue to keep an eye out. “There’s only one road out of Bramble. It goes past the tavern, but Herman hasn’t seen her.” Putting the phone away, Cort faced Brogan with a speculative gaze. “That means she’s still somewhere in the area.”
“Is there a cheap place she might be staying? A motel or B and B?”
“Right outside of town, sure, but if she’s still in Bramble, there’s only the Inn. Butler wouldn’t have given her a room without a reservation. He owns the Inn, but he’s also the mayor and he’s a stickler about things like that. The thing is, there are plenty of wooded areas and natural trails. Bramble prides itself on staying small, with as few commercial buildings as possible. There are even limits on housing. Doesn’t mean Ruthie couldn’t find a place to lie low—the woods or one of the parks, if you think she’s that determined.”
“Honestly, I can’t say.” Brogan didn’t know her that well. “She’s a hateful, unhappy woman and she indulges in too much alcohol. From what Connie said, she’s into drugs, too. Pills mostly, I think. But until I took Shayna, I hadn’t had contact with her since I was a kid, and that was only a couple of times.”
Cort’s brows went up. “For a woman who doesn’t know you, she sure seems to hate you.”
No kidding. To throw rocks at me?What pissed Brogan off the most was that she could have hit Shayna, Andy, or Pixie. Of course, Ruth hadn’t concerned herself with that.
Is my father really ill?
He didn’t know, and he shouldn’t care. Brian had never showed even a hint of interest in him. If the man had denied being his father, Brogan would have believed him. Unfortunately, he hadn’t denied it. He’d just said it didn’t matter, that Brogan didn’t matter, and that he had no room in his life for an accident.
Pixie stroked his arm. “Miserable people hate everyone, themselves most of all.”
“I have a few more questions,” Marlow announced. “But they’re only for Pixie, so you boys can go on and get acquainted. We won’t be long.” She hooked her arm through Pixie’s and ushered her out of the room.
The second Pixie’s hand slipped away from his skin, Brogan missed her touch. There was something about her that made him feel more grounded, as if he wasn’t a bastard who had no place in the world.
While he watched the women head quietly to the living room, Cort said, “SEALs, huh?”
Brogan gave up his scrutiny of Pixie’s petite body, her slim legs, proud shoulders, and that long, fair hair, to turn back to Cort. Though he only looked a few years older than Brogan, Cort’s assessing gaze made Brogan feel as if he was being dissected by a woman’s father. “Joined up early and had planned to stay the course.” He rolled a shoulder. “Shit during a deployment went sideways, I found out about Shayna, and here I am instead.”
